Libraries, learning and information meeting the future needs of healthcare students
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How library services in higher education can gear themselves to the needs of health sciences students
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Libraries, learning and information meeting the future needs of healthcare students
- 1. Libraries, learning and information: meeting the future needs of healthcare students Catherine Ebenezer 20/09/05
- 2. Existing policy context The new NHS: modern, dependable (1997) Making a difference (DH 1999) Fitness for practice (UKCC 1999) NHS workforce strategy (2000) Wanless Securing our future health (HM Treasury 2002) and Good health for the whole population (HM Treasury 2004) Widening access to HE 2006- ???
- 3. The context: Making a difference: 1 Issues identified by Gannon-Leary et al.: Role of IT in the NHS: More training places Flexible approaches to training Problem-based and enquiry-based learning Emphasis on lifelong learning, CPD Evidence-based practice / critical appraisal Importance of research
- 4. The context: Making a difference: 2 Issues identified by respondents: 12-month CFP More time on placements in NHS Introduction of evidence-based practice Increase in number of user education sessions More family-friendly curriculum model
- 5. The context: e-learning Seen by government as a way of extending participation in HE, ensuring consistent standards, cost-effective delivery, enabling lifelong learning Delivery typically ‘blended’ – a mixture of ‘traditional’ teaching and electronic delivery Growing importance of VLEs
- 6. Aspects of library services Resources Access Support User education
- 7. Resources Still ‘hybrid’ – but balance tilting steadily in favour of electronic Books – e-book collections now being successfully implemented – worth experimenting with Could consider moving almost entirely to electronic subscriptions for journals other than a few core titles New models of research and professional communication: digital repositories, blogs
- 8. Access Study space needs to support group work Remote electronic access to library resources increasingly important – needs robust network infrastructure and good IT and library support Document supply services increasingly electronic (BL, BMA) and self-service Ability to manage loan transactions online Demand for extended opening hours Circulating laptops/wireless networking
- 9. Support – at the point of need Approaches to support need to be user- centred – we are not training librarians Subject guides, database search help sheets Help with information management tools: PDAs Bibliographic management packages Current awareness tools – eTOCs, news feeds 1:1 support can be delivered online using Internet ‘chat’ applications
- 10. Information literacy Ability to recognise an information need, and to identify, locate, evaluate and use effectively information needed for the particular decision or issue at hand (ALA) Development a key aspect of learning and teaching strategies A key educational outcome/aspect of professional competence for all health care practitioners
- 12. Information habits of students Perceive the Web as their primary information environment, not necessarily libraries Want a single interface to information resources, not multiple interfaces Reluctant to abandon ‘quick and dirty’ searches on Google etc. in favour of better- quality information resources provided by libraries Convenience, rather than quality, the overriding factor
- 13. User education Underpinning basic IT skills Internet navigation skills Awareness of available types of information resource Formulating clinical questions Searching library OPAC and bibliographic databases Critical appraisal Referencing Copyright
- 14. Issues for students on placement Distance learners! Need access to HSHS e-resources from trust premises or from home Resources can be supplied to NHS libraries under SLAs HSHS libraries need to provide access to the DIALOG interface used in NHS Core Content Should work with NHS librarians at WDC level to ensure that NHS libraries can provide adequate services to students Reciprocal access arrangements with other academic libraries
- 15. References Akeroyd, J (2004) Information management and e- learning: some perspectives. Aslib Proceedings 57(2) 157-167 Gannon-Leary, P, Wakeham M, Walton G (2003) ‘Making a difference’ to nurse education: the impact on HE libraries. Journal of Librarianship and Information Science 35(1) 31-46 Moyo, L M (2004) Electronic libraries and the emergence of new service paradigms. Electronic Library 22(3) 220-230
- 16. References Royal College of Nursing (2004) The future nurse: the future for nurse education. A discussion paper. London: RCN SCoNUL (1999) Briefing paper: information skills in higher education. At www.sconul.ac.uk [18/09/05] SCoNUL (2004) Information support for eLearning: principles and practice rev.ed. At www.sconul.ac.uk [14/07/05]
- 17. References Wakeham, M (2002) Making a difference – meeting the challenge. (PowerPoint presentation). At www.uhsl.ac.uk [17/09/05] Yeoh, J (2000) Nursing information needs: what next? Health Libraries Review 17(1) 14-16
Editor's Notes
- I am going to focus my presentation mainly on pre-registration education and training for the nursing professions here, as these predominate at HSHS in terms of numbers.Where I say ‘nurse education’ I mean to include midwifery as well! Government strategies for the NHS involving nursing staff inevitably impinge upon nurse education and may have implications for libraries I don’t have a crystal ball, and I don’t know what the government’s plans are for 2006 and beyond, nor what the NMC might have in mindIt is possible, however, to look at current issues in nurse education which are impacting upon libraries, and extrapolate future needs from these to some extent There are also trends within the information environment, within learning technologies and within library technologies that can be identified and extrapolated.First, by way of background, an outline of recent developments:A variety of government policies have impinged directly on nursing and nurse education since 1997: Making a difference: strengthening the nursing, midwifery and health visiting contribution to health and healthcare (DH 1999)The UKCC’s report on perceived shortcomings in Project 2000, Fitness for practice (UKCC 1999) The NHS Workforce strategy (2000) which emphasised multi-disciplinary teams The two Wanless economic reviews of the health service…which led to NPfIT/NHS Connecting for Health The government’s drive to widen participation in HE
- Here I indebted to the work of Gannon-Leary et al. – their study commissioned by the UHSL which looked at the impact on HE libraries serving nurses of the new curriculum based on Making a difference and the responses that libraries are making to it. The overarching aim of the research was to examine ways in which LIS in universities were responding to the new curricular model, and how they might best support it in the future G –L et al identified several aspects of Making a difference which had the potential impact upon LIS support and provision:Role of IT in the NHS: decision support systems, PACS, care records etc. being implemented as part of the NHS Connecting for HealthrolloutMore training places, including encouragement of returners to practice More flexible approaches to training: broader entry, part-time education, APL, step-on/step-off Problem-based and enquiry-based learning – which are approaches to ensure effective integration of learning with clinical practice – are known to place at a premium good information retrieval skills – and require access to a wide range of resources Learning needs to continue throughout a nurse’s career An ongoing programme of research needed to develop and extend the professional knowledge base Students spend extended periods on placement in NHS trusts, including community placements – they are thus distance learners for part of the time and need access to NHS library services
- Common 12-month foundation programme, leading to increased competition for resourcesMore time on placements in NHS – implications for access to resources, ability to borrow and return books Introduction of evidence-based practice, with emphasis on the students’ ability to find and evaluate research evidence Respondents said that changes were not necessarily the result of Making a difference specifically, but reflected more general trends
- Second, we are seeing a steady expansion in the role of e-learning as part of the delivery of higher education Universities able to obtain funding for implementing VLEs – considerable effort being put to develop content for course delivery via VLEs VLEs still at an early stage of development – many technical issues outstanding Library and academic staff should work together on locating suitable content (N.B. HERON) and ensuring that library content is accessible via WebCT
- A fairly traditional characterisation….
- Turning now to looking at trends within library services and resources themselves…. Obviously libraries will need to continue to provide for students…. Books Journals E-prints, e-theses Bibliographic and full-text databases Multimedia: videos, images, models Learning objects – various E-books – e.g. Appleton in Edge Hill with midwifery students College should consider establishing an e-print archive – library should assist with this Physical and electronic (‘hybrid’). The balance within the ‘hybrid’ information environment appears to be tilting steadily towards the electronic.
- Physical and electronic --- Study space – individual and group Opening hours PC and network infrastructure Circulation system and policies Reserves and short loan collections Interlending and document supply Libraries need to provide a range of types of study space, for individual work and for group work that may or may not involve computersWe can perhaps learn from the ‘information commons’ idea being implemented in many American university libraries: user-centred, provision of IT facilities and spaces for group work and social interaction – counteracts the isolation inherent in remote e-access PC and network infrastructure, with appropriate authentication mechanisms, needs to provide for both on-site and remote access to digital resources – Web/intranet-based. A proxy server can be used to provide access to resources which are authenticated by IP address. Library should consider laptop loan / wireless networking as a possible solution to problems of space and access to computing facilities, also wireless connections for students’ own laptops Circulation systems and policies should allow equitable access to stock. Consideration should be given to using blogs/RSS feeds to publicise library services
- Approaches to support, whether in designing library web-pages, offering training sessions in database searching etc. need to be user-centred and aimed at meeting students’ perceived information needs, e.g. finding research evidence or practice guidelines – we are not training librarians Still a role for on-demand individual or group tuition in person Does everyone know what RSS is /what a news reader is? (Maybe even explore social bookmarking!) Reference services can be provided in person, via telephone or email, or delivered electronically in real time via ‘chat’ services such as Internet Messenger- such services have been established in several American universities, though not in health libraries in the UK
- Information literacy a blend of information technology and information handling skills To function effectively as practitioners and to support their own future learning, students need to become independent and informed information consumers – this is fundamental Key objective of the library – to support the development of information literacy
- SCONUL’s seven pillars model for information literacy
- Lots of them! Diverse backgrounds Huge variation in levels of experience with computers, and information awareness – some start from a low base e.g. not knowing what a journal is, not being able to distinguish a journal citation from a book or report citation Many mature students, some from non-traditional backgrounds, e.g. have started as HCAs or MCAs, or qualified via access courses Middle-aged returners to study well recognised as having problems with IT – often need remedial help Some students may have very good IT skills, but not necessarily good information skills; may be used to web searching for general purposes, but unfamiliar with ‘advanced’ search techniques------------- Many librarians have written at length about the propensity for using Google rather than better quality resources
- Information skills training needs to be integrated into the curriculum Many different aspects, depending on level of students:Needs to include: Underpinning basic IT skills – can vary enormously – some students need remedial teaching if technophobia is to be avoided! The level of IT skills of student nurses should be ascertained before they begin their courses (Gannon-Leary et al.). Internet navigation skills – should include security (firewall, anti-virus, backups etc.) Awareness of available types of information resource: primary sources, types of secondary literature aimed at clinicians e.g. structured abstracts, POEMS, Clinical Evidence, PRODIGY, CATs Students should be introduced to the National Library for Health and its specialist libraries Critical appraisal – both of primary literature and of reviews and consumer health information Referencing – print and electronicCopyright - can include plagiarism User education/information skills training can be delivered in various ways – probably need a mixture of approaches: Taught classroom sessions Hands-on workshops Interactive self-teaching packages- can be be delivered effectively via a VLE (e.g. INHALE project) Our approach to user education needs to be evidence-based – anecdotal evidence not enough
- Students on placement are effectively distance learners and need library services appropriate to distance learners Can frequently encounter technical and policy problems with electronic access, e.g. re: Internet access for non staff, or with NHS firewall Problem between NHS and university sector – NHS uses DIALOG, most universities have OVID interface and train on it – can cause problems for students on placement. Universities do not have access to DIALOG bibliographic databases unless they purchase it. Standard interface is subtly different from the NHS version. A training d/b is in preparation which should alleviate this problem to some extent. Students cannot be given NHS ATHENS accounts and must depend upon walk-in access to NLH resources Support for students in NHS libraries can be a real problem – NHS libraries are small and often poorly staffed, and cannot cope with the support needs and demands of large, vociferous groups of students. One librarian I know produced a whole series of ready-made searches as a response to this problem – less than ideal from a pedagogical point of view. This is when one discovers how effective – or ineffective – previous user education has been. If NHS libraries are expected to provide lending services, the university needs to cooperate with them in ensuring that books are returned before students leave. UK Libraries Plus and SCONUL vacation loans arrangements applicable in some instances